


To Cradle a Baby

by Helicopter_Buddy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: And titles, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Cutesy, Don't Judge Me, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Gen, I Don't Even Know, I bet Lance would make a great dad, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm dying send help, Minor-ish Pidge & Everyone, Mostly Pidge & Lance tho, Pidge becomes a little kid, Shiro is still overprotective, and everything really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-15 17:37:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11235921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helicopter_Buddy/pseuds/Helicopter_Buddy
Summary: Lance heard an explosion at the dead of night. He guessed it was Pidge's doing, but he certainly  didn't expect this.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This idea just popped into my mind and would not let me do anything else until I wrote about it. Like, my head just set up camp and refused to budge. So, enjoy.

Pidge had to admit, she was a pretty good inventor. Most of the time, when she made some sort of machine, it worked flawlessly. The worst that had ever happened was the contraption would hiss for a few seconds before popping, releasing a small stream of harmless smoke.

That's why when she was trying to build a simple computer, she hadn't expected it do _this_. After all, she had built one earlier on, just before they blasted off into space in a giant, magical robot lion. Granted, she _did_ use some suspicious tools and containers of materials with Altean labels she couldn't read for squat, as opposed to her usually preferred work conditions. Also, she was dead tired. In hindsight, working on a project in the middle of the space equivalent of night probably wasn't the best idea, especially when she'd been sleep deprived since several days prior. Maybe that's why the invention blew up in her face in a grand display of light blue mist that filled the room.

* * *

 

"What was that?!" Lance snapped his head around quick enough to cause whiplash. He'd simply been up to get a pouch of water when he heard some sort of explosion in the room across from his.

Nevertheless, as he quick-walked over to Pidge's room, he didn't really expect to hear her crying inside. Except, this didn't really sound like her. Well, it did, but it sounded more like a child; younger and more - how should he put this - _intense_. However, he had to focus on the situation here: Pidge.

He slowly opened the door, allowing the dim light of the castle hallways to flood the room. The crying was still there, but where was it coming from? Her bed was empty and looked like it had been untouched for a while now. Aside from the several unfinished contraptions and bits of trash, there was nothing on the floor but her windbreaker -

What the quiznak? The crying was coming from the windbreaker! How did she even fit under just a _windbreaker_?

"Hey Pidge?" Lance spoke in a soft voice, not wanting to startle her. He slowly walked over to the jacket, the door closing behind him. He tip-toed in the darkness around everything else scattered on the floor, placing his still sealed water pouch next to his feet.

"Pidge?" A loud wail. At this point, Lance decided to step in. He brushed away the articles of clothing, finding a small _\- really_  small, - tuft of brown hair underneath.

"What the..." It was definitely Pidge, but tinier. Much less like the 5 foot give-or-take-a-few-inches Pidge and more like a toddler, probably only coming up to his knees. She was curled into a ball, having stopped crying once she saw him. She was now cowering in fear, her lips quivering and her wide, brown eyes staring up at his. The sight nearly brought Lance to tears himself. What happened?

Clearly, this was a child, not the 14-year-old Lance was used to. Thankfully, she still had an oversized tank top covering her body. She was so small and fragile, it reminded him of his little _prima_ back when she was just a _niñito_. The thought brought a bitter pang of homesickness to his heart.

A suppressed sob racked her body, snapping Lance back to reality. He could ask questions later, right now he had to do something to calm her down.

"Hey," he said in a hushed tone as he scooped her up into his arms, "It's okay. You're okay." She tensed up at the touch for just a moment, relaxing slightly once he was securely holding his arms under her and around her back.

A few moments went by by like this, Lance pressing her tiny body against his warm chest. He could tell she was trying her hardest not to cry, so he tried to remember how his mother had comforted him when he was kid.

"Hey," he whispered, "Do you want to talk about it?" He could feel her vigorously nodding her head. After about a minute, she began explaining, her voice muffled in his shirt.

"I, I was just t-trying make a-a-" she spoke in a small voice, her last a coming out too muffled to be understood, "A-and then, and then, i-it..." Her tears began flowing freely again, she was shaking in his arms.

"And then? What happened next?" He questioned softly, not wanting to pressure her too much.

"A-a-and then," a hiccup, "I-it just w-went _boom_ a-and I g-got h-h-hurt!" She was sobbing uncontrollably, violent shudders racking her small body. She looked so sad and defenceless like this, and he felt a hint of regret for not being there to protect her. Maybe that explosion was what made her become like this.

"Hey, it's alright now." He rubbed soothing circles on her back with the hand he had behind her, gently rocking her in his arms. Lance wasn't really used to dealing with kids, but he'd had _some_ experience. Mostly just the basics. Her sobs and crying slowly turned to mere sniffles, her tears having stopped. At least he could do this much. What next?

"Could you show me where you got hurt?" Sniffling again, she lifted a tiny hand from between their bodies and placed it on her hip. He lifted the huge tank top over where she'd indicated, noting the bruise underneath. It wasn't by any means large, but for a child, this was like death itself. He knew from experience.

But what could he do to help it? It definitely wasn't something for a whole healing pod - come to think of it, he wasn't even sure if a healing pod could turn her back to normal. There were some regular medical supplies stashed away in the ship, though he didn't know exactly where they were.

He brought the hand from Pidge's back up to the injury, eliciting a wince from the smaller of the two. He tenderly passed a finger over it, examining the wound. He wasn't going to be able to find the medical supplies without Allura or Coran, so what  _could_ he do...

He was stuck with an idea, and he mentally facepalmed for not having thought of it sooner. It wouldn't be weird, right? Yeah, after all, she was just a kid. And she'd probably feel better, even though it wouldn't really do anything. He brought his head down, planting a light kiss to the bruise.

"There," he said softly, "all better." She gasped but had stopped sniffling completely. Now that she was calmed down, he could think about the bigger problem here: how would she become her larger self again?

"M'thirsty." That reminded him, it was the middle of the "night," and she probably hadn't slept at all. Oh well, he could think about this in the "morning." He also recalled how he'd brought a water pouch here.

"Here you go." He bent down to retrieve it, passing it to her waiting hands. Pidge poked the straw in and drank the whole thing in a matter of seconds, burping quietly when she finished. She threw the empty pouch on the floor, yawning.

"Okay, it's bedtime." Pidge snapped her head at him, shocked.

"What? No!" She frowned and puffed her cheeks out, pouting. Oh no, was this really happening?

"Pidge, c'mon. You're tired and you and I both know it." She jutted her lip out and turned her head away. She just looked more adorable like this.

"Pidge..." He tried to think of something to convince her. "I'll... uh, let you play with my lion!" She gasped, looking back at him with hopeful eyes.

"Really?" They were practically sparkling with delight.

Uh, not really, but now he'd _have_  to let her, "Yeah." In the back of his mind, Blue admonished him for such a bribe, but he promised he'd take her out for a ride after Pidge was done.

"I'm tired! I wanna sleep!" She was practically jumping from his arms.

Lance chuckled and made his way over to her bed, avoiding the mess on the floor. He lay her down on the soft sheets, pulling the blanket over her tiny body. He leaned down and gave her a goodnight kiss on the forehead. Kids liked that, right? He guessed they did, judging by the expression on her face.

"Sleep tight." He began walking away, only for a small hand to tug at his shirt. A whimper.

"W-wait, Lan, s-stop!" He turned around, her hand releasing her hold on him. She was looking at him with big eyes, her lip quivering.

"D-don't g-g-go..." Tears were welling up in her eyes again, she was probably just scared. He looked down at her with a soft smile, and she made a frightened grabby motion, telling him to _come here_.

Lance lifted the blanket, and Pidge moved back to make room for him. He gently lay down in the bed, pulling the sheets back over them.

"Lan?" She whispered.

"Yeah?" There was a pause, as if she were considering weather she should say anything or not.

"C-can you..." Again, a pause. "I wanna hug? Pretty please?" Oh, there was no way he could say no to that face. She looked down, seemingly ashamed of her request. He smiled and wrapped his arms over her tiny body, pulling her close. She relaxed, sighing into his shirt.

A few minutes passed and Pidge was already snoring softly, her chest was rising and falling with each breath. She looked so peaceful like this, so... _cute_. After all, she was just a toddler, wasn't she?

Lance wondered how, exactly, this happened. Could it be reversed? Hopefully. They still had a universe to protect. How would he break this to the others?

A particularly loud snore snapped him from his thoughts. He smiled down at the sleeping child. She'd called him "Lan," just like his _hermanita_  once did. It might take Lance and the team a while to figure out how to cure Pidge, she may be stuck like this for a bit.

But hey, in the meantime, maybe he could get used to this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the super long wait, I've just been really busy with some stuff these past two weeks. On top of that I ended up scrapping like half the chapter twice, so it ended up taking even longer. Anyways, enjoy.

Lance awoke with a start. He was in a green bed as opposed to his regular blue, _strange_ , and there was something warm next to him - something small. It was clinging on to him, but what was it?

That's when his mind began flooding the memories of the previous night began to his head. _Getting some water, an explosion, Pidge..._

Wait a minute.

"Pidge?!" He whipped his head down to look at the tiny human sleeping peacefully in his arms. Huh. He hadn't noticed he was holding her. She was snoring lightly, her face still buried in his chest.

Lance took a quick glance at the clock on his side. It read 8:28.

Quiznak. Breakfast was in 2 minutes, and he'd have to go meet with everyone else and somehow explain to them _what the heck happened._

Yeah, he was screwed.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Pidge let out a small yawn, stretching her arms out.

"Hey little buddy," he called softly, "How are you feeling?" She groggily looked up at him, blinking a few times with heavy eyelids. Pidge was always cranky when she woke up, and Lance hoped to all the stars in the universe she wouldn't cry or scream or-

"Lan?" She sounded tired. _Sherlock freaking Holmes, right here._

"Uh, yeah?" She'd closed her eyes again, reopening them a second later.

"I'm hungry." Oh crow. Lance sighed, not out of annoyance, but out of anticipation of the inevitable meeting. After a moment, he felt her shuffling.

"What's wrong?"

"You're squishing me!" She grunted as she tried to remove his lanky arms from around her small body, but to no avail. Oh well, they should probably get up by now. It was already...

Shoot. 8:31.

"Let's go." Lance sat up, bringing a giggling Pidge with him. He placed her on the floor and she took a few wobbly steps, but she ended up falling to her hands and knees with a light _oof_. He got off the bed and scooped her up in his arms.

"Ready to get some food?" She nodded. That's when Lance realized, she was still only wearing a huge tank top, and it would probably slip off soon.

"I need'a go potty." Oh, come on. At least she knew how to use the bathroom. Maybe. Wait, did she? No, she'd need help; the seat would be way too high. He groaned inwardly, too quiet for Pidge to hear.

"Alright, come on." He made his way over to the door, still holding her in his arms.

 

He had no idea why in the universe there were baby-sized clothes in Pidge's bathroom, but hey, he wasn't complaining. The smaller orange tank top and striped trousers fit her perfectly.

By the time he'd gotten to the entrance of the dining room, she had fallen asleep again. Her head was resting on his chest, a small trail of drool dribbling from the corner of her mouth. It was getting all over his favorite shirt, but hey, it was adorable. Besides, he had more important things to worry about. Like what was behind this door.

"Okay Lance, you can do this," he muttered to himself, "Just go in casually, if they say anything just tell them what happened, everything will be great. Or not." His heart was probably beating at the speed of light. He groaned, defeated.

"You know what, whatever!" Lance stepped over to the door and it automatically slid open. He walked in with his eyes squeezed shut, waiting for _someone_ to say _something_. When no one did, he opened his eyes.

"Uh, where is everyone?" He suddenly felt extremely stupid, because the room was entirely empty.

"They're probably in the kitchen." Pidge began snoring softly, her chest pushing against his with each breath. Ugh, she was so cute like this. Maybe he could use that to his advantage and distract everyone from asking any questions.

But now they were probably expecting him to meet them all in the kitchen. He'd still have to explain this.

Sighing, Lance made his way over to the kitchen's door. This time, he stepped in without hesitating.

What he was expecting to see was everyone staring at him as he entered holding a baby Pidge, but what he found was Hunk making breakfast. Alone, with his back towards him. There wasn't anyone else here, and for that, he was grateful. His best friend would probably take it the lightest. Maybe. He hoped.

It didn't seem like Hunk had noticed him yet, which was a miracle, considering the noise of the door and Pidge's, albeit light, snoring. He flipped what looked like a pancake on a pan before sliding it onto a plate.

Lance cleared his throat to get his attention. When Hunk began turning around, Lance had a sudden urge to just run out of the room, but decided against it.

"Oh, hey Lance, I was just..." He trailed off, eyes widening beyond belief and pan dropping to the floor with a loud clank.

Lance didn't know what to prepare for. Definitely not this.

"Oh my gOD LANCE IS THAT PIDGE WHAT HAPPENED?!" He practically shrieked, staring at Lance with shock and awe apparent on his face.

"Shhh! She's sleeping!" Hunk snapped his head down at her, somehow not having realised this.

"Sh-she... She's a baby and SHE'S SO SMALL!" He snatched Pidge from Lance and wrapped her in his arms, trying to say something but unable to get the words out of his mouth.

"Okay, Hunk, buddy, calm down! We don't want her to wake up!" He looked just about ready to faint.

"OKAY, OKAy, yeah, sorry. It's just," he gave her a light squeeze, "She's so cute! What happened?"

Just as Lance was about to explain, Pidge's eyes fluttered open. She looked around, and he saw her lip quivering.

She was going to cry. How could she be so bipolar? _No, stupid, focus on the situation._

"Hunk, quick," _what to do, what to do, what to do_ , "Rock her! In your arms!" Hunk looked at him, confused, then down at Pidge. Tears were forming in her eyes. What happened? Was she just overwhelmed? No, that couldn't be it... Hungry, maybe?

"Ah! Sorry!" Hunk started gently swaying her around. His efforts were in vain, however, as she began sobbing in his large arms.

"What do I do, Lance?!"

"I, uh, I don't know!" They weren't exactly the best babysitters, he figured. Pidge started mumbling something incoherent.

" _What_ is going on in here?!" A furious Allura stepped into the room, followed by Coran, Keith, and Shiro. She stared the two teens down before her eyes trailed down to Hunk's arms.

"Oh my goodness - is that Pidge? You two have turned her into a small child! And she's _crying_!" She took Pidge from him, attempting to soothe her.

"W-we didn't do anything, ma'am! Promise!" Hunk cast a quick glance at Lance for an explanation, but he was too caught up in the glower Shiro was directing at him. Despite the princess' efforts, Pidge continued to cry. The tense silence went on for a few minutes before she let out an exasperated huff and motioned for Shiro to hold the crying toddler.

"Ah yes, my boy," Coran spoke with not a hint of malice in his voice - that was something Lance respected him for. "Would you happen to know what caused this?"

"Uh, y'see," he gulped down the lump forming in his throat as everyone stared at him, "Pidge tried to make something - I don't know what - and there was this explosion, and then I heard crying from her room, and after that I found her like this." He was sweating bullets and tugging at his shirt's collar. When did he ever start doing that?

"Uh," Keith spoke up from the back of the room, "I think she's trying to say something..." They all quieted and listened to her.

"L-lan," she choked out between sobs.

"Lan? What is 'Lan' supposed to mean?" Allura titled her head. What was Lance supposed to do? It'd be weird to just say _hey, that's me, hand her over,_ but Pidge was crying. That was worse, wasn't it? He decided to step in.

"Maybe she-"

"Now's not the time for your jokes, Lance, unless you know what 'Lan' is supposed to..." Shiro's voice trailed off, and everyone's eyes seemed to light up with realisation. They all looked down at the crying child.

"Lance? But - why?" He continued to cradle Pidge, but she didn't stop crying.

"I, uh, I actually don't know." Pidge repeated his pet name, her wailing getting yet louder. "Look - just, let me give it a try, okay?" Shiro looked skeptical, but when he glanced back at the child in his arms, he gave in. He handed her over to Lance, not before giving him another death glare.

"Hey, Pidge. Look. I'm here." He held her at eye level and spoke with a gentle tone. She looked up at him with puffy red eyes, her face wet from crying so profusely.

"It's okay. Nothing's gonna hurt you now." He gingerly wiped her tears away with his thumb, pulling her into an affectionate embrace. This worked last night, he hoped it'd work again.

She was violently shaking in his arms as she sobbed with no sign of stopping. It was possible she really was just overwhelmed. In that case, he'd need to leave the room for a while.

"Can you guys give me a minute?" He looked around as the others glanced at each other, silently nodding in confirmation.

As Lance walked out of the kitchen, he rubbed gentle circles into her back. He was pretty sure she liked that, so maybe, just _maybe_ , it'd get her to calm down.

"Hey, c'mon Pidge. It's okay." She'd stopped her sobbing at this point, but Lance could still feel his shirt becoming slightly wet with her tears.

"You remember those guys, don't you?" She nodded lightly, but it was definitely there. "They're your friends - no, they're your family. They won't hurt you." She was only sniffling now, her tiny hands clenching the back of his shirt.

"I, I thought," her voice was so quiet that he could barely hear her, "I thought you l-left me alone, _forever_..."

"Aw, Pidge... I'd never do that." She looked up at him, her eyes glossy.

"Promise?"

"Promise." She finally smiled, and when she did, it brought a feeling of warmth to his heart. She tried to wrap her short arms around him, only getting them a quarter of the way around. He hugged her back as she nuzzled her face into his chest.

Then her stomach growled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is currently in the making, hopefully it won't take so long this time around. Stay tuned, I guess?!

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is welcome!


End file.
